What we learned from the Ducks’ 3-2 victory over the Sharks

Rickard Rakell never lost his swagger. Hampus Lindholm found his. And Jonathan Bernier continued his stinginess against the San Jose Sharks.

The confluence of trends resulted in a 3-2 win Friday as the Ducks moved into first place in the Pacific Division, ahead of the Edmonton Oilers with two games in hand.

Here’s what we learned:

Rakell balances out the Ducks’ lines

Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said, “There’s a huge comfort zone” with the line of Rakell, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, and it’s easy to see why.

Not only does the trio open up space for each other, the dynamic also allows the Ducks to put Nick Ritchie on the third line and put together a new-kid combination of Joseph Cramarossa, Stefan Noesen and Logan Shaw on the fourth line.

Carlyle gave his third and fourth lines a shift or two late in the game Friday, a sign of trust that’s been earned.

Rakell didn’t miss a beat with a goal in his first game back from injury, and Lindholm scored his first goal.

Bernier continued to make his case

He downplayed it, but Bernier needed a response following an 8-3 loss against the Calgary Flames in his previous game.

Mission accomplished with his second win against San Jose this season. Bernier knows he’s the backup, but he isn’t shy about wanting to see more ice.

He liked that Carlyle gave him the start in an important game, regardless of whether he thought Carlyle wanted to get him back soon.

“I want to play as many games as possible,” Bernier said. “If you flush that game in Calgary, I thought so far it’s been good.”

The Ducks stopped the bleeding

Anything less than five goals allowed was going to be a positive for the Ducks after they gave up eight and five goals, respectively, in the previous two games.

They weren’t patting themselves on the back too much. San Jose is struggling offensively but still generated a lot of puck possession. However, limiting the Sharks to two goals — none by their top line — is a start. Anaheim also killed San Jose’s only power play after its porous penalty-killing unit allowed four goals, in 10 attempts, the last three games.